Let's make a US Government and Politics MIDDLE/HIGH SCHOOL Reading List

[Sarah Rainsong]

Can you help make a list of interesting books that cover US Government and Politics at a middle school to high school reading level. The key to this is not simply to present information, but to engage the reader. Historical fiction is perfectly acceptable.

Specifically, I'm looking for literature selections that present an accurate (not politically sanitized or politically correct) view of this area of history--and who better to ask that Project Avalon? I have some thoughts (but not many), and I'd really like to hear what you have to say first.

So what are your recommendations? Remember, it needs to be ENGAGING as well as informative, otherwise I might as well hand over a textbook.

As you add your recommendations, I'm going to (try!) to come back and add them in this post so they're all in one list for easy reference.

[Kryztian]

This might not be exactly what you want because (1) it's not reading, but viewing - this is a list of documentaries and interviews, all of which are on Youtube (2) I couldn't possibly imagine the U.S. Government or many local education boards ever approving most of these selections, but I do feel most of this information is well researched, well documented and important for any enlightened individual interested in what is really going on in the world, to know.


* * * * *

The Secret Government: Bill Moyers - Constitution in Crisis
Probably the most subversive thing I have ever seen on public television. A history of how the CIA and other paramilitary entities have subverted democracy in other nations, starting with the overthrow of the democratically elected Arbenz government in 1954 and continuing up to Iran Contra affair.
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Confessions of an Economic Hitman - John Perkins
And this was a short book before it was a documentary which I highly recommend. It shows how U.S. policy has been targeted smaller nations by getting them to take loans from the World Bank and IMF that are not in their best interest. Agents for the U.S. ("economic hitmen") used corrupt and dishonest means to turn these nations into debt slave states.
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The Men Who Killed Kennedy
Almost every high school textbook and encyclopedia shows that Lee Harvey Oswald assassinated John F. Kenney. A little research and application of common sense should show anyone that this is not true. While many have disagreed with some of the conclusions of this 9-part series (each part just under an hour), it is a comprehensive examination of many of the topics in understanding the Kennedy Assassination.
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1979 Documentary on MK-Ultra by ABC News
Here's another moment when the mainstream media was really on the ball. Everyone who has every taken a class on Modern American History should know what the MK-ULTRA program is.
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The Power of Nightmares: The Rise of the Politics of Fear
If you want to understand about the clash between the Western Military Industrial complex and Islamic terrorism, Adam Curtis's documentary made for the BBC is key.
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Stealing a Nation - How the UK/US Stole the Diego Garcia Island
And if you want to understand how Western military intervention isn't about freedom and peace for the citizens of this planet, this story about how the US and UK genocided a small nation of people between 1967 and 1973, John Pilger's stupendous documentary is essential.
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Trump Admin Raising Phoenix Program From the Ashes
Another CIA program every American should know about, the Phoenix Program. It had it's roots in Vietnam and now it seems the warfare techniques learned there have been unleashed on the American people.
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The Day Israel Attacked America
The story of the Israeli attack on the U.S.S. Liberty during the Six Day war - 1967 sheds a lot off light on the U.S.'s support of Zionism.
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